1. Field
The present disclosure relates to vehicles, and more particularly to a propulsion system for a robotic vehicle that enables the vehicle to traverse a ground surface.
2. Background
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Interest in robotic vehicles continues to increase. Examples of robotic vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,637, entitled “Robotic All Terrain Surveyor”, to M. Tanielian, issued Jan. 23, 2007, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,434,638, entitled “Robotic All Terrain Surveyor”, to M. Tanielian, issued Oct. 14, 2008, which is a divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,637. Both of these references are owned by The Boeing Company, and both are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
With any form of robotic vehicle, the vehicle's overall weight and mechanical complexity are factors that designers generally seek to minimize. For example, with the robotic surveyor of U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,637, the device includes a plurality of legs that can be extended to help propel the device in a general rolling motion along a desired course. A plurality of actuators may be included to accomplish this, with one actuator being associated with each leg. Thus, if six legs are used, then a minimum of six actuators may be employed; if twelve legs are used then twelve actuators may be employed and so on.